Reign Take Down Checkers 3-1 in North Carolina

The two teams came out swinging in the first period, picking up 48 combined penalty minutes including three fights, but neither side found the back of the net through 20 minutes.

Reign forward Paul Bissonnette broke the scoreless tie midway through the second period knocking in his own rebound over the right pad of Checkers netminder Drew MacIntyre (L, 40 saves on 43 shots) at 11:24. Defenseman Kevin Gravel picked up the lone assist. Late in the frame, Gravel found forward Scott Sabourin along the right wing who fired home his third goal of the season from the top of the faceoff circle at 17:45.

The Checkers cut the lead in half 36 seconds into the third period on the power play as defenseman Ryan Murphy slipped a shot past Reign goaltender Peter Budaj. (W, 18 saves on 19 shots). The Reign reclaimed a two-goal advantage at 8:55 as forward Michael Mersch buried a wraparound shot between the pads of MacIntyre at 8:55 with help from forward Justin Auger.